


Ideas Are Bulletproof

by automatic_badgirl



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hackers, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Alternative Universe - FBI, Artificial Intelligence, Ben has a Justice Boner, Crimes & Criminals, Cyberpunk, Dystopia, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, FBI, Future Fic, Heist, Rey is on the wrong side of the law, Road Trips, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2020-10-21 03:30:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20686799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/automatic_badgirl/pseuds/automatic_badgirl
Summary: Moodboard by sunshineflyingThe year is 2027.A series of cyberattacks have rocked America and the shadowy hacker behind them--The Professor--has finally been captured by the FBI. She brings a dire warning about the rise of a potential Superintelligence at Hux Industries--an AI that might end civilization as we know it.Rey “The Professor” Niima--has been on the wrong side of the law her entire life and she has no intentions of helping the very people who’ve locked her away.Special Agent Ben Solo knows better than to trust a terrorist like The Professor, but if he wants to prevent a global catastrophe he has no choice.The countdown to disaster is on and Ben and Rey must work together to save everything they love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to DarkKnightDarkSide for the beta! XOXO

“You’ve got to be kidding me? That is  _ not _ The Professor.” Special Agent Ben Solo stared into the video monitor. “The Professor’s a girl!” 

“Not a joke. We picked her up this morning in some backwater burg in Kansas.” Agent Finn, Ben’s partner, stood with his arms crossed. He had a grim smile on his face. “Hard to believe isn’t it? That she’s the black hat hacker we’ve been tracking for the last twenty-two months.” 

“She’s just a kid! How old is she, eighteen?”

“Well, ID says twenty-one but it’s fake. We’ve put her prints into CODIS and VICAP, all the usual places. Waiting for a hit, but she’s good. There’s hardly any trace of her anywhere. We’re trying to figure out how she scrubbed herself out of the system. If it wasn’t for facial recognition and a rushed DNA comparison, we’d never know. Thank God for the Patriot Act, SAC Holdo can throw her down a dark hole for as long as it takes.”

“Any parents with pushy lawyers making trouble?” Ben asked. He shoved his hands into his pockets and paced. 

“So far no...Even if there were, she’s facing terrorism charges Ben, she’s not going anywhere. We got her, we finally got her!” Finn clapped Ben on the shoulder.

They leaned over the monitor. A young girl, slim and pretty, wearing a prison orange jumpsuit was cuffed to a metal table. She looked supremely bored; she was leaning back as far as the restraints would allow and examining her chipped nailpolish. Her hair was a wild mix of blonde with multicoloured streaks of pink and blue, and was clubbed into three small buns that lined the back of her head. She looked like the kind of bratty teenager one might nab for shoplifting and not the number three suspect on the FBI’s most wanted list, suspected of countless computer crimes, aiding and abetting known criminal organizations, and possibly inciting not one or two but three riots. 

This was the young woman who was the agent of so much chaos. After her first extraordinary attack on several major student loan holders including Sallie Mae; the media had been abuzz with speculation in regards to the identity of the hacker. That first strike had resulted in the erasure of millions of dollars of student loan debt and nearly sent the global stock market into another freefall. Only a government bailout kept another economic meltdown from happening. 

As part of their attempt to rectify that mess, the FBI had formed a Special Task Force to track and arrest the perpetrators responsible. The working theory at the time was that it was the result of a terrorist action on the part of an antagonistic foreign power--likely China or North Korea. 

Then the major lenders involved hamfistedly created another mess when they announced they would be backtracking existing loans using paper copies and asking people to continue to honor their loan commitments in the meantime. In effect, for everyone to keep on paying down loans that

didn’t exist anymore. Thousands of students staged massive protests in several major cities; these demonstrations quickly became unruly and out of control. Tracing the organizers of those riots led to a secret message board on the Dark Web  [ www.schools_in_session_bitches.fu ](http://www.schoolsinsessionbitches.fu) and their shadowy leader that the press wasted no time calling ‘The Professor’. 

The next target less than six months later was a sophisticated skimming operation. Global payment systems were compromised--which was supposedly impossible--and a tiny percentage of the payments processed over the Black Friday shopping weekend was diverted to untraceable accounts overseas, resulting in the loss of potentially millions of dollars. FBI Analysts were still trying to unravel the route the money had taken, some of which had gone through some very bad nations with interests hostile to the United States. Along the way, portions of the money had peeled off and routed themselves into local banks and credit unions in low income areas in North America. At precisely 13:00 hours on Dec 24th, ATM’s in these areas started shooting out money like confetti. A midi file implanted in each machine played “Let it Snow” and the resulting scramble for the money had resulted in chaos, fights, car accidents, three murders and some unexpected Christmas spending cash for some lucky citizens. The size and scope of the infiltration and penetration of secure banking systems and operations was unimaginable. The Professor and their allies had torn through the firewalls and security systems like tissue paper. 

The last riot they could conclusively link to The Professor happened when the autonomous guidance systems of a private jet were hacked. The private jet was the property of a somewhat problematic dictator of a no account banana republic. He’d been installed with help from the CIA in the late 80’s and had proven to be useful at suppressing the local Leftist rebels and furthering American interests in the region. The problem was, he was a little too fond of brutal reprisals and had cozied up to the local drug barons. 

El Presidente been more than a little surprised when he exited his plane onto the tarmac to find not a brass band and toadying government flacks but rather a well armed and angry citizens brigade that had summarily executed him after a short show trial. That one the government would likely have let slide seeing as it saved them the trouble of arranging an assassination of their own, except the local citizens brigade had declared a socialist utopia and began a protracted battle with the drug lords. America was already stretched thin as it was globally; this was another headache they didn’t need on their doorstep. 

And this girl--this child--was the mastermind behind it all. Special Agent Ben Solo couldn’t believe it. Almost as if she were aware of his scrutiny, she looked up at the camera recording her. 

“Oi! Facist Wankers? Any chance of getting a decent cuppa? I’m gasping for a brew.” When no tea or answer was forthcoming she grinned impudently at the camera and flipped the bird.

“She’s a British national?” Ben said.

“We think so, it’s hard to tell. We had linguistics listen in and they confirm the accent sounds native,” Finn replied, and rubbed the back of his neck. “You want to see some spooky shit though?” Ben looked sharply at him. Finn raised his brows. “We almost lost her in Kansas…” Finn tapped some keys and brought up another feed. “At this very moment some Deputy Dawg is likely being fired but you can’t blame this guy,  _ I  _ would’ve been fooled too. Watch this.” Finn pressed play. 

A soundless security feed flickered into view. It toggled between views of a local police station. The deputy entered the frame escorting a young woman--The Professor--she was wearing a short skirt and flimsy top, the kind of clubwear you see on most hip young adults. She appeared to be very inebriated. 

“Deputy Dawg there,” Finn pointed, “Caught the luckiest break of his life. A water main burst and shorted out traffic lights, The Professor’s van was broadsided in a low-impact collision. He was less than a block away when he rolled up and apprehended her trying to boost a car.” 

“Was she drunk?” Ben asked. The Professor was sitting in a chair, cuffed and slumping, three sheets to the wind. 

“That was the good Deputies’ assessment. He was going to jug her in the drunk tank. Let her sober up a bit before he pressed charges. But just watch…”

The usual hustle and bustle of a late night police station unfolded on the screen, drunks and druggies and prostitutes paraded through the screen. The Professor snarked something apparently very insulting to a local lady of the evening, Ben couldn’t read lips but the intent was clear. A tussle broke out and cops moved in to separate the combatants. 

“There! Did you see it?” Finn said. 

“No, what am I looking at?” Finn rewound and played it frame by frame. The Professor acquitted herself well for a supposed drunk. Ben watched in disbelief as she expertly pickpocketed the cop wrestling her away from the prostitute. The swipe card and cell phone she’d lifted disappeared almost immediately. 

“Jesus!” Ben exclaimed.

“Yeah, she’s fast...and good.” 

After apparently settling down and promising to behave, the cops left The Professor handcuffed to a bench. Once she was relatively unobserved, The Professor straightened, all drunken pretense gone, and picked open the cuffs in seconds. Then she casually strolled to an office area out of frame. The camera switched views; The Professor glided silently down a hallway, faking interest in a soda machine when two officers passed by at the end of the hall. Tapping out a quick message on the cell as she checked to make sure the coast was clear. She used the swipe card and entered a  door marked Staff Only. The view switched once again to an overhead view of a locker area. The Professor quickly opened several lockers and helped herself to a long jacket and a baseball cap. She rifled through and grabbed several sets of keys and pocketed them. This took less than a minute. Then she exited the change room and walked briskly towards the exit. Her escape was about to be accomplished in less than twenty minutes. 

“Holy shit!” Ben was amazed. 

“Right? 

She should have gotten away. No way would her fingerprints have pinged a hit that fast, as it is we’re still running them. I think she might have gotten tagged by a facial recognition camera. We’ve been uploading likely profiles to the system based on digital reconstructions. All I know is, seconds after Deputy Dawg put her in cuffs at the scene we got a 9-11 high priority alert here and at the Kansas office. They rolled out, all systems go. Watch this.” Finn pressed more keys. 

The view changed, better resolution color and with sound; police body cams. The view was jerky as the officer hustled up, then stabilized showing The Professor in a parking lot, pressing key remotes. A car chirped and the tail-lights flashed, she moved towards it. 

“Freeze! Hands in the air!” an amplified voice boomed out. The Professor flinched then slowly raised her hands. 

“What’s going on? I was just dropping my husband off at the station, he’s a cop.” Her voice was an eerily perfect Kansas accent. “Is there a problem, officers?” She was all big eyed earnestness. Just a little wifey dropping off hubby dearest at work.

“Get down on the ground and put your hands behind your head!” The voice ordered. 

“I think there must be some kind of mistake…” Was her lip quivering? She looked like she was about to cry. “Please officers--” 

A beam of light shot out of the sky and a roar of helicopter blades was heard overhead. “We know it’s you, Professor. Get down or we will shoot.” There was a moment; The Professor went perfectly still. Then she looked up at the helicopter, at the red dots of laser targets tracking over her torso. Her mouth twisted in a sour grin. 

“Alright, let’s not be hasty lads,” The Kansas twang was gone, it was all sneering East London now. 

She dropped carefully to her knees and stretched out flat on the pavement, finally lacing her fingers behind her head. The body camera shook as the cop raced in. There were jerky shots of a huddle of cops cuffing The Professor and her twisting and fighting, screaming out some of the filthiest obscenities Ben had heard in a long time. 

“Again I say, Holy Shit!” Ben couldn’t believe it. 

“Right?”

  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gifted Moodboard by ksco  


Rey tried to stretch. She’d been sitting here for hours but the chains that stretched from ankles to wrists to a welded loop on the tabletop restricted her movements. 

She could only hope that Kylo had gotten her message and was instituting counter-measures. She couldn’t believe her luck, all of it bad. First the accident, then the cop, then the take-down outside the police station. That much bad luck was more than a coincidence. 

Someone had set her up. She meant to find out who. 

She also needed to pee but she’d be buggered before she asked the Feebs for a bathroom break. She shifted uncomfortably. If it came down to it she wasn’t above pissing in the corner. 

She looked at the mirror that wasn’t a mirror. They’re probably watching me right now. She mugged and pulled a few faces, seeing if she could make her eyes roll back to the whites. Just to keep things interesting. 

Finally she heard the click of the lock. Alright, she stretched out her neck, let’s see how much these wankers know.

The door opened and two agents stepped through. One was white and the other black, one was of medium height and lean but the other was quite tall and muscular, both were cute. She grinned invitingly, this might be fun. 

“Welcome gents, I’d offer you some refreshments but well…” she indicated the barren room “It appears the FBI doesn’t believe in feeding its captives. Wait till I tell my lawyer about this,” She raised her voice for the last bit. “Which I will as soon as I get my _ phone call! _”

They ignored her and drew up chairs and sat across the table from her. The tall one crossed his arms over his chest, straining his white shirt across his chest. Rey approved the power move and decided he was going to be Good Cop. The other cop held a file which he tapped on the table in front of her. He was definitely Bad Cop. 

She folded her fingers on the table and gazed at them impassively. Silence always made people talk. She knew this, as did the FBI. Let’s see who’d break first. 

Bad Cop finally relented. He flipped open the file and slid some documents across to her. She spun them so she could read them. Her heart sank as the Agent summarized for her.

“Rey Niima, former resident of the United Kingdom. DOB: May 24th 2008. Current age 19. Accepted, scanned and registered as a refugee at New Ellis Island in New York City at the age of 7 in 2015 after the Suitcase Nuke Attack in London. Disappeared shortly after arrival, presumed trafficked. Current whereabouts?” The Agent leaned over the table towards her. “Well they _ were _ unknown but, I think we’ve found you, haven’t we, _ Professor _?” 

Shit! How had they peeled back so many layers so quickly? She’d paid a huge bribe to get her DNA scrubbed from the registry. It was one of the first things she’d done when she could afford it. She shouldn’t be in the database, she _ fucking knew _ she wasn’t in the database. She was an Unperson. Who had betrayed her? 

She kept a carefully controlled expression on her face. She needed Kylo. She could set him hunting to backtrace and find out where and when she’d popped up on the radar again. 

“If you say so...cop.” She made a show of examining her nails as insolently as she could. 

“That’s Agent John Finn to you and I don’t have to say so, it’s right there in black and white.” He tapped the papers. 

The other Agent just watched her. His steady gaze was a little unnerving. There was no judgement. Just a species of cold fascination. Like she was a new and interesting kind of bug. 

“Look, I want a lawyer. I’m saying nothing more. I know my rights.” Bold and sassy with it now. 

The quiet Agent spoke up, “What rights? You have none. You’re a terrorist. We can detain you for years if that’s what we want to do with you.” He said this so matter of factly. 

She felt fear curdle in her belly. This situation was going sideways rapidly. 

“We can take you and put you on a plane…” The Agent rose and crossed over to crouch in front of her, “and send you to a Black Site. They officially don’t exist but everyone knows we have them...and we can keep you there for years. Forever if we wanted to.” He reached out and brushed a strand of hair off her forehead and she flinched. “So you will talk to us, you will tell us who you are, eventually…one way or another.” He stood up and stared calmly down at her. 

She changed her mind. This guy was definitely Bad Cop. Time to fight back.

“Fuck you! I’m not telling you anything.” 

“Not yet. But you will.” He gave her a small smile. “I’ll see to it.” He nodded to Agent Finn and they exited the interrogation room. 

Rey blinked her eyes hard to stop the tears from falling. She took a few deep breaths trying to calm the racing of her heart. 

Jesus Christ! Kylo, I need your help. Where are you? Her face in the mirror that was not a mirror was drawn and pale. 

***

SAC Amilyn Holdo met him the observation room. “You might try to adhere to the idea that the FBI is a fully legal organization that doesn’t support the unjustified detention or torture of detainees, Agent Solo. I believe I have had this conversation with you multiple times already...” she said a bit crossly.

“There’s nothing in the handbook that says I can’t lie...” he smirked, “and you know as well as I do, that if push came to shove that’s exactly what would happen.” 

SAC Holdo shook her head at him. “Try to remember we’re the good guys, Agent.”

“And she’s the bad guy, a very bad guy…” he said pointing to the glass. 

Be that as it may, we need to handle this one carefully. I want everything by the book. I don’t want The Professor slipping through our fingers. There’s no telling how much information she might be able to provide.” 

Special Agent in Charge Amilyn Holdo was a tall, elegant woman, she looked more like a trophy wife than the tough and canny FBI Special Agent in Charge she actually was; the few who underestimated her were around long enough to regret it. She leaned against a desk and motioned to some other agents. The pair, who were obviously still fresh out of the Academy, stepped forward. 

“Agents Finn and Solo, I’d like you to meet Agents Poe Dameron and Kaydel Connix, they’re with Cyber Crime--”

Poe eagerly shook hands with Finn and Ben. “Hi, we’re the Nerd Squad. We’re going to be giving you technical backup on this case.” 

Kaydel had drifted over the observation window. She peered out at Rey Niima. “Wow, so that’s The Professor, huh?”

“Allegedly.” clarified SAC Holdo. 

“It’s kinda cool. I never thought The Professor was a woman, never mind one so young--she’s kind of a legend...” 

“A legend?” said Ben. 

Kaydel must have realized how she sounded. Hastily, she said. “I mean, I know she’s a total black hat but her hacks are epic and what code we’ve been able to examine is so, like, sophisticated and clean…really next level.”

“Try to rein in the hero worship, Agent Connix. That--” Holdo pointed at Rey, “young lady is likely responsible for serious threats against America and her interests. We need to find out what she knows and what she’s planning and who all the members of her organization are. Got it?” 

“Yes ma’am,” Kaydel said, abashed. 

“I’ll leave you to it,” She stood up. “I’ll want an initial report on my desk by the end of the day. Agents Dameron and Connix will walk you through what the Kansas office recovered from the van.” 

Poe rubbed his hands eagerly, “Come with me and see what we have for you in our Cave of Wonders.”


	3. Chapter 3

Cyber Crime, aka The Nerd Squad, now took up most of the basement of the FBI. As technology advanced, the FBI had struggled to keep up until the late 90’s, early 2000’s when aptitude testing and aggressive recruitment on college campuses had generated a pool of candidates who could keep pace with the constantly evolving battlefield. The FBI wasn’t above enlisting former black hat hackers to their cause either, although this policy was far from official. That explained the sometimes muddy boundary between Agents and Hackers as admiration for clean hacks and code crossed all boundaries.

“Check this out.” Agent Dameron lifted a large suitcase like object onto the table in front of them. It was made out of stainless steel and high impact carbon fibre. He flipped the lid and it unfolded to reveal several large screens and a large matte black central disk. All the screens were dark.

“What are we looking at?” Finn asked.

“We think it’s The Professor’s personal unit.” Ben and Finn looked blank. “Her computer.”

“That monstrosity is a computer? It’s huge and bulky! I was imagining something more--”

“Clean and Apple-like?” Kaydel said. “Nah, that kind of stuff is strictly consumer electronics...this--” She caressed the case. “This is a custom build. Hand-made with love...”

“What does that do.” Ben pointed to the disk occupying the center part of the computer.

Poe and Kaydel looked at each other, “We don’t know...we can’t get it to boot.” he admitted. “But from what we can tell this baby is serious hardware, it’s shielded and hardened. We assume its high level biometrics for security. Internal scans show some kind of super efficient battery. It’s got a subroutine running right now and sending out some low level transmission.”

Finn and Ben looked alarmed, “It’s sending a signal?”

“Yeah but don’t worry. This entire floor is shielded and a huge Faraday cage as well. Nothing comes in…” said Poe

“And nothing goes out,” finished Kaydel.

“What’s it sending?” Ben asked.

“We don’t know. We can’t decode the signal.” Poe said.

“That’s not a lot of help to us now is it,” sighed Finn.

“No but--” Kaydel bit her lip.

“What?” said Ben.

“We thought maybe, you could--” she trailed off.

“You could take it and get The Professor to boot it up, in front of you?” Poe finished.

“Wait. Hold up.” said Finn, “You want us to take this…_supercomputer_ up to the genius hacker and ask her nicely, could you please turn this on for us? Fuck that, are you crazy?”

They just looked at him. Ben sighed. He hated Cyber Crimes. He wasn’t a Luddite but he was definitely a low-tech kind of guy. He only had a smartphone because the FBI insisted he carry one.

“Do we have a choice at this point, Finn?”

“No. No way. This is nuts. This is the exact opposite of good police work.”

Ben stroked a finger along the back of the case feeling the raised lettering in the aluminium, “What does KYLO mean?”

Poe and Kaydel just shrugged.

***

Rey was starting to think pretty seriously about using that corner to relieve herself when two Agents, unknown to her, entered the room. Briskly and silently, they uncuffed her from the table and gripping an arm each, escorted her out of the room. She needed the support as she was still chained hand and foot. In the hall another Agent held an AR-15 at port arms. Rey had no doubt he would bring it to bear if she tried anything.

“Can I please use the loo?”

They ignored her and hustled her down the hall. The rattle of her ankle chains on the floor was very loud.

“Look you’re going to have a mess to mop up if I don’t get the chance to pee...your choice.”

Thing One and Thing Two, the two Agents escorting her looked at each other. Some decision must have been telepathically communicated because Rey was led into a ladies washroom. The Agent with the gun barred the door and the other two checked each stall. Finally they led her to the first stall, the female Agent held the door open while the male stepped back and placed his hand on his weapon. _Jesus they aren’t fucking around,_ she thought.

“Can I get these off?” She held out her arms hoping they might uncuff her. They just stared impassively at her. Rey shrugged, worth a shot. She shimmied and managed to get her pants down.

“I don’t suppose I could get a little privacy, I have a shy bladder?” she smiled winsomely at the male Agent.

“You can piss yourself for all I care.” He said in a monotone.

_Alright then_, Rey sat and after a moment managed to pee under the scrutiny of the two Agents. Her relief was tempered by her increasing concern. All her attempts at testing their transport protocols for weaknesses were failing. They were treating her like a high risk captive. That would make escape much more problematic.

She was quickly escorted back into the hall and transferred to an elevator. This one used a key card and code system, neither of which she had. Her two personal escorts never released her, the guard with the AR swiped and punched buttons then stood in front of the door facing her. The elevator descended quickly enough to make Rey’s stomach flip.

The elevator opened onto a windowless hall and she was hurriedly marched to another small room. The Agents secured her to another table at gunpoint and left the room. They refused to speak to her during the entire process. The full scope of the situation was beginning to hit home. She was deep in the bowels of the FBI. They knew who and what she was. She was, to put it mildly, pretty much fucked. _How I am going to get out of here?_ Her head sank onto her arms and she squeezed her eyes tight, trying to cling to hope.

***

“Go over the procedure once more.” Ben said.

“She’s been moved down here, it’s shielded, she can’t send a signal. We have her boot up and only boot up then Kaydel and I will take over and try to hack her unit,” said Poe.

“What if she has some kind of killswitch or something?” Finn asked.

“She might...that’s a risk.” he admitted. “But right now we have zero intel and this is the fastest way I can think of to get something.”

“You sure you can’t crack this if you took it apart?” Ben asked.

Kaydel looked shocked, “That would be like destroying the Mona Lisa! This is a one of a kind system. We have no idea what advances her OS might be able to provide us with.”

Ben sighed irritably. Nerds and geeks were so frustrating to him. “If lives were at stake, I’d gladly set the Mona Lisa on fucking fire.”

Kaydel looked scandalized and opened her mouth to retort.

Finn raised a hand, “Ok. Everybody calm down. No one is setting anything on fire. We have a high risk operation at hand and we need clear heads. Everybody get your game face on.”

“I’m ready whenever you are...I can’t wait to get my hands on this baby.” Poe looked gleeful. “Come on Kaydel, this is going to be epic! Like opening King Tut’s tomb.”

Ben rolled his eyes; _computer nerds — just ugh_.

***

Rey lifted her head when she heard the door open. Four Agents walked in, Good Cop and Bad Cop and two unknowns, a man and a woman. Rey didn’t pay them much attention because she was riveted on the object the female Agent was holding. It was Kylo. She might have a chance after all, she tried to calm her racing heart.

Good Cop — Agent Finn was it? — sat down across from her. He smiled but it never touched his eyes.

“Miss Niima, you and I both know you’re in big trouble, right? I don’t need to belabour that point. You’re looking at serious time. But? We’re willing to work with you here.” He pointed at Kylo. “We’re very curious about that computer there. Your personal system right?”

“I’ve never seen that before in my life.” She lied, they might give her more free rein if they didn’t think it was her own system.

“Nice try,” Bad Cop said. “DNA swabs don’t lie.”

_Fuck_. Switching tactics. “Yeah I might know a little something about it. What’s in it for me?”

Bad Cop leaned over the table towards her, and she was able to read the name printed on the ID badge hanging from his suit pocket. Agent Ben Solo.

“What’s in it for you is maybe you don’t get sent to some dank hellhole in the third world somewhere, maybe you get to stay Stateside in a nice comfy Supermax with running water and electricity,” Agent Solo said.

Man, he was a first class prick. “That is a persuasive argument,” she said sarcastically. _Careful now, not too bitchy, you need to let them give you access to Kylo. _

“Hi Professor, Agent Dameron.” One of the new Agents stepped forward. “I hope you consider our request in the spirit of pure scientific cooperation...we--”

Agent Finn waved him to silence as Rey snickered. “Well if it’s for science, how can I refuse?”

“Before we let you access this thing; some ground rules,” Finn said. “We need you to boot it up. That’s all. Our techs will take it from there. You will comply with any verbal requests from Agents Dameron and Connix there, immediately. Any deviations from that plan and you’re in deep shit. Comprende?”

“Got it.” She kept her voice calm and controlled. They’d soon realize what deep shit was.

Agent Connix slid Kylo onto the table and opened him up. She was so close to getting free, what protocol should she initiate? Death Star? Deep Purple? No, this looked like a job for Run Rabbit. There was an air vent.

Connix spun Kylo around. Rey leaned forward and reached out. Agent Solo put his hand on his Glock immediately. Rey froze.

“No tricks, or I’ll put you down,” he growled. She nodded carefully. She placed her palm on the black disk and there was a muted chirp.

“Retinal scan commencing,” said a neutral female voice: the Gatekeeper OS. There was a brief flash of red lights.

“Voice identification and passphrase,” said the Gatekeeper; Kylo wouldn’t awaken until Rey had passed this step. Rey cleared her throat, “The day we stop believing democracy can work is the day we lose it.” Agent Solo snorted in disbelief. Rey didn’t care, Kylo was awake.

The screens flashed to life and golden code scrolled across in a glimmering shower. She noticed Agents Dameron and Connix lean closer. Rey moved her hand from the black disk and the holographic processors started up, a shimmering waterfall of golden light coalesced into a sparkling ball hovering over the black disk.

“Rey, I have been trying to reach you,” the ball said as it contracted and expanded. Unlike the gatekeeper, Kylo’s voice was a warm and pleasant male tenor.

“I know, Kylo. We’re in--” Rey was cut off as Agent Dameron snatched the computer back.

“What?” He passed his hand through the ball; it rippled through his fingers like golden sand and reformed.

“Localized holo projection, but the resolution is…” Kaydel breathed.

“Insane.” Poe finished, “Tied to the OS, you think?”

“Likely,” she said.

“Rey, initial scans indicate unauthorized individuals in proximity as well as elevated heart rates. I have been trying to reach the calvary as requested but there appears to be a Faraday cage and several security systems in place. No current system backup is available on the primary server. Initiate defense protocol Alpha?” Kylo said.

“Whoa! Whoa!” Poe exclaimed, backing away from the unit. Kaydel leaned closer. The ball twisted and shivered in the air.

“Agent Kaydel Ko Connix, Cyber Crime Junior Agent…please step back,” said Kylo.

“How?” Kaydel looked confused. Rey just smirked. She opened her mouth to utter the passphrase for Run Rabbit but Agent Solo drew his Glock and pointed it directly at her. “Don’t. Don’t say a word,” he snapped.

“Ben, hang on!” Finn protested.

“I detect an immediate threat to your person. Initiating defense protocol Alpha in 10 seconds…” said Kylo.

This would cause Kylo to release a biodesigned targeted neurotoxic agent, immediately disabling and one which she had the antidote for already hacked into her genes. Not exactly the defense protocol she would have chosen as the range was limited but she could work with it. She could pick the locks on her restraints and take Agent Connix’s clothes, gun and keycard.

As soon as she was clear of the cell she could initiate Run Rabbit which would have Kylo send a small swarm of microbots, each about the size of a gnat, flying through the air in search of the closest hardwired device. The miniscule robots would manually link to landlines, power conduits and cables, and inject a limited replica of Kylo’s OS. Its only purpose was to seek out computer systems and co-opt them. Faraday cages and shielding couldn’t defend against a physical intrusion. Once she was in control of their systems and servers she could lay waste.

“Stop it! Stop it, right now!” Ben’s aim was steady. Rey just had to say nothing and Alpha would initiate. She would be free in seconds. But then Agent Solo turned the gun on Kylo. “Shut it down or I shoot this thing to pieces,” he said.

Kylo was open and therefore unarmoured. Bullets fired at close range would be very damaging. She could rebuild him, which would take time she couldn’t spare and he hadn’t been backed up since before they’d been brought here. She’d needed all his operating power for the Kansas job. All the data he’d scooped would be lost and she needed that if she was going to figure out who had double-crossed her. She made her decision. There would be another opportunity. “Kylo, stop.”

“As you wish, Rey. Defense protocol Alpha terminated.”

How did that bastard know Kylo was the key to her compliance? He was smarter than he looked.

“Is--is that thing an AI?” Kaydel looked at Kylo with awe. “I know we’re getting closer but to have one self contained like that, should be impossible…”

Rey heard nothing but respect in her voice, she couldn’t resist bragging a little. “Not AI but the next best thing. Kylo won’t fool a full Turing test but he’ll come damn close.”

The Kansas job was the first step to helping Kylo reach full consciousness. “How did it--he know who I was?” Kaydel asked.

“I’m assuming your badge.” Rey pointed, “has RFID. Kylo automatically scans for and catalogs all RFID signals.”

“That’s spooky. He’s so fast.” Agent Dameron didn’t sound spooked, he sounded excited.

Agents Finn and Solo were conferring in a corner in low voices, eyes on her. Agent Solo still had his gun out. Rey strained to hear what they were saying. “How did you know?” Finn said. Ben indicated with his chin, toward Dameron and Connix. “Geeks are all the same...threaten to take away their toys and they react like the children they are.”

Rey felt rage build in her; Agent Solo was so arrogant. They noticed she was listening and lowered their voices. Rey felt apprehension build. A large part of her success as a hacker was due to the fact people were predictable and lazy. They saw her, a young woman and assumed she was no threat. But this Agent Solo treated her like she was radioactive. He never let down his guard around her; this didn’t bode well.

Agent Finn sat down across from her. “My colleague makes a good point. This thing--”

“Kylo,” Rey said stubbornly.

“Kylo then, appears to have several security systems in place. We need you to disable them and grant access to our techs.”

“Get stuffed cop, figure it out yourself,” Rey snapped.

“Do it or I pour gasoline on it and light the match,” Agent Solo snapped right back. Rey glared at him. They wouldn’t have to know all the subsystems. She could disable some of the showier defense protocols. Granting access to Cyber Crimes was more worrisome. How good can white hats be? After all they’d chosen to work for the FBI, which was pretty antithetical to the hacker ethos in the first place.

“Kylo?”

“Yes, Rey?” He sounded as cool and unflappable as always.

“I’d like you to meet some new friends, they’re going to work with you. That’s cool?”

“Certainly.”

“Agents--?” She indicated for Connix and Dameron to introduce themselves.

“Poe Dameron.”

“Kaydel Connix”

“Voice prints have been recorded. Please approach for thumb and retinal scans.”

Poe and Kaydel looked joyfully at one another and hurried to comply. Rey tried not to smile. They would only be granted access to a shell of Kylo, the code-phrase ‘That’s cool’ had triggered a subsystem. Any decent hacker would expect code-phrases and subsystems but these two looked like eager puppies.

“And the defense protocols?” Agent Solo said.

“Fine. Kylo, stand down defense protocols. DEFCON 4.”

“Better make that DEFCON 5.” Solo said. Rey narrowed her eyes. “There is no--” Agent Solo raised the gun and pointed at Kylo. “Check that Kylo, DEFCON 5.” Rey gritted.

_How did he keep outguessing her?_ Oh well, there was still a few tricks left in Kylo, including Death Star. That was a baseline defense mechanism. No one, not even Rey, could countermand that. Kylo might be leashed and muzzled right now, but Rey didn’t expect that to last. Once she was free however, there would be three things to do: One, find out who betrayed her and destroy them. Two, get the processor chip Kylo needed. And Three, set a new and improved Kylo loose to ruin Agent Ben Solo’s life utterly and completely.

She would bide her time and wait, as Plutt used to tell her, Patience is a Virtue...and Vice is but a Virtue carried too far.


	4. Chapter 4

Alone finally in a cell somewhere in the building, Rey was able to shower, eat and try to sleep. Her mind kept poking at the Kansas job trying to see what had gone wrong. She was trying to infiltrate a subcontractor for Hux Industries. They were they ones who’d come up with the chip in the first place. But waltzing into Hux and walking out with the chip was impossible. They took corporate security seriously. Rey was going to have to come at it from an oblique angle. She’d have to work her way in through companies affiliated with Hux Industries. 

_ I know my plan was good. And Kylo, well, no one can beat him. So what went wrong? Even if the water main and the traffic accident were pure bad luck, how in the hell did the cops and the Feebs figure out who I was so fast?  _

The answer, when it came, was one she didn’t want to consider. Someone had tipped off the Feds in advance. But her inner circle who knew her as The Professor was small. Plus, whomever betrayed her had to know that MAD would kick in as soon as Rey figured out who it was. MAD, Mutually Assured Destruction meant that everyone in the inner circle had enough actual serious dirt on everyone else to completely destroy each other. Trust wasn’t in her nature. 

_ Now the Feebs have Kylo and I need a way out of here. I need to get that chip. _ She wrestled with exactly how she was going to accomplish it. Towards dawn, she began to have an idea. 

***

Ben Solo arrived at work the next day oddly out of sorts. Usually, he was able to keep the line between work and home pretty clear; he did his job, put away the bad guys and didn’t think too hard about it. 

Break the law, suffer the consequences. Pretty easy credo to live by. Cases rarely got under his skin. But this girl, The Professor. She irritated him; she was clever and had potential. Why would she choose to waste her talents on crime and destruction? 

It was obvious she’d never had anybody teach her right from wrong. But he could. He could make that crystal clear for her. He smiled grimly at himself in the rearview. It would be his pleasure to show her exactly how she went wrong. 

He grabbed his briefcase and started towards the main building, ready to set the world spinning correctly on its axis once more. 

***

“Hey Poe?” Kaydel called, “Check this out…” Kaydel pointed out some code from Kylo that was running on a huge monitor. “Are you seeing that?” 

Poe squinted at the code. His expression changed to one of shocked surprise. “Sonuvabitch! Oh she’s good, she’s really good. How’d you find it?”

Kaydel blushed. “I almost didn’t but I was doing some deep recursive diagnostics and this algorithm just...bugged me. I don’t know, it just didn’t sit right.” 

“Good instincts. How deep was it buried?” 

“Pretty deep. I’ve been…” Kaydel looked at her watch and blinked, “playing with this for the past six hours, following it down the rabbit hole.”

“Take a break. I’ll start trying to penetrate the shell.” Poe cracked his knuckles and sat down at the workstation. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re here for the main event. We are going to bend this glorious machine to our will. Come on Kylo, open up for Papa Poe…” Poe’s fingers flew over the keyboard.

Poe was many things, but the one thing he was most proud of was his ability to crack codes. He operated mostly on logic but partly on instinct, making intuitive leaps and crafting neat little end runs around recalcitrant software. He was a hell of a hacker. He and Kaydel would crack open Kylo like a walnut. 

***

Ben Solo hunted and pecked on his computer as he tried to get the gist of what they’d discovered into his case notes. Poe and Konnix had spent most of the entire day yesterday working with the Professor’s computer. Ben didn’t want to admit it, but he was a little unnerved by what they’d told him in breathless spurts and interruptions. 

He knew his gut had been correct when it came to the girl and her deviousness. The computer had some kind of fake profile--Kaydel had said it was a shell--that acted enough like the original system to fool most users but all the important information, the meat, was still locked away. 

Ben didn’t fully understand the ins and outs of what the Nerd Squad had done, he just knew they’d figured out a way past the shell and into the main system of the computer. Ben had refused to call it Kylo, even though he noted with grim amusement that both Kaydel and Poe were and using the pronoun ‘he’ to describe the thing. 

The reason the Professor was in Kansas was to lay down a false identity trail in order to penetrate Hux Industries, her primary target. As far as Ben Solo knew, Hux Industries was an important player in the software industry--in league with Apple and Microsoft--but their reputation was hardly cutting edge. They were known mostly for their security and encryption software; some of which the US Government used to keep their computer systems safe from intrusions. They were old school, safe and a bit stodgy. 

But apparently they’d been up to something pretty hush hush codenamed EMPRR, and somehow the Professor found out about it and wanted it. When Ben questioned Poe and Kaydel they had no idea what EMPRR might be. 

“Maybe it’s a new type of end-to-end encryption decryption program…” Poe ventured. “That’s the only thing I could see her wanting, but why steal it? She could just wait for them to release it and work on cracking it?”

“Unless she wanted to compromise it before release in someway?” Kaydel guessed.

“Well,” Ben picked up his suit jacket from the back of his chair and shrugged it on. “Whatever it is, SAC Holdo would like us to find out. So let’s go and see. Don’t let on what we know about her machine. I’ll take the lead on this, you and Poe will observe. Got it?” 

They nodded. 

***

Rey sat in the chair with her legs crossed under her. She was still in leg irons but they hadn’t secured these cuffs to her handcuffs. She was still shackled to the table however, in the small interrogation room. 

She had her eyes closed and she was breathing slowly, finding her calm, mentally running through what she was going to say. If they bought it, she would have her chance to not only escape custody but get what she needed with the help of the FBI. 

_ Like the best lies, I’ll coat this in enough truth that it should go down pretty easily. Agent Solo might be suspicious of me but I think I can slide this right down his throat, he strikes me as a right hungry one… _

She heard the click of the lock and she opened her eyes, ready to pull the wool. 

Agents Solo and Finn came in and sat down silently. Rey didn’t engage with snark or foolishness; they’d moved to a new level in the game. 

“So Agents, how may I help you today?” She folded her hands in front of her, the very picture of willing compliance. They wouldn’t trust her yet but that wasn’t necessary. 

“Tell us what you know about Hux Industries…” Finn said. 

Rey answered, “Blue chip tech firm. Known for their software applications. Not much of a player on the social media side...security software is robust and a workhorse. What else do you need to know?” 

“Why are you targeting them?” Agent Solo asked. 

“Why not? Having a backdoor into the government can be very useful. I’d think that was fairly obvious.”

“So you’re after access then?” 

She shrugged. “Who says I don’t already have it?” She smirked at them. Finn looked a bit alarmed. 

Ben leaned forward, ignoring the bait. “What is EMPRR?” he asked watching her closely as he pronounced each letter. 

Rey was shocked. Had Connix and Dameron managed to break the shell on Kylo? She’d have to assume so. She was silent for a moment, impressed with the White Hats even though this changed things. 

_ So it’s like that then _ , Rey mentally pivoted.

“It stands for Emitted Multiphasic Recursive Resonator and most people refer to it as ‘Emperor’ and I doubt you’d understand. Where are the other Agents, the smart ones?” Rey taunted. She might as well get a jab in. 

“They’re listening, go ahead and condescend to us anyway.” Finn said sarcastically. 

Rey crossed her arms and frowned, “What do you know about the Singularity?” 

“Is this some kind of terrorist group?” Finn asked. 

Rey narrowed her eyes. “Hardly, but it could mean the end of all mankind…”

“Explain.” Agent Solo snapped. 

“I think Hux Industries is close to creating an AI, if they haven’t already.” 

“So?” 

“So, Agent Solo, let me put it in terms even you might understand. Imagine a fully conscious AI, able to design and improve its own software, continually getting better and faster with each iteration. Building better and faster versions of itself, which then builds another newer, better faster version and so on. Humanity is limited by our biology. Our technological progress has been steady and only in the last century has it even approached anything we could call rapid, but we’ve always been limited by physical constraints here in the real world. An artificial intelligence would have no such limits. Its ability to self-engineer would soon match, then  _ surpass  _ that of its human creators…”

Ben spread his hands and looked unimpressed. “And? Sounds like something right up your alley, a super-smart computer you nerds can play with--”

Rey leaned forward and tapped on the table as she made her last points. “The Singularity happens when the growth of the artificial intelligence becomes irreversible and--this is the important bit--out of human control. This Singularity would result in a Superintelligence, far superior to all human intelligence. What happens if this Superintelligence decided that humans were competing for resources it wanted?” 

Rey could see that the idea had made an impact. She nodded, “I imagine it would go down pretty much the same way it did when Homo Sapiens decided Neanderthals were competition for resources...except in this case, we’re the Neanderthals.” 

Ben frowned, “Well we could just unplug the damn thing, it’s a machine, isn’t it?” 

Rey threw her head back and laughed. “Oh you are adorable, you are, someone give this man a gold star. He’s solved it. Bravo.” She pretended to clap then twisted around to face the observation window, “Oi, you two? How can you stand to work with someone so thick?” 

Ben slammed his fist on the table, “It’s a computer, we turn the fucking thing off!” he growled. 

Rey got in his face. “It’s  _ not a computer, _ it’s a Superintelligence. As superior to you or me as we are to an insect. When the Singularity happens we might find out about it in a matter of hours or days if we are lucky. By then it’s likely the AI would have infiltrated and corrupted every computer system on earth.”

“Like Skynet? In those Terminator movies?” Finn said. 

Rey nodded, then shrugged. “Who knows? There’s been some theories about what might happen. But the prevailing opinion is that after the Singularity, human life will be irrevocably changed, forever.” Rey snapped her fingers. “For however long the Superintelligence decides to let us exist.” 

There was a flurry of knocking at the door. Finn groaned and opened the door to admit a visibly excited Poe and Kaydel. 

“How reliable is your source on this?” Poe blurted. “Like the best we could tell was we had 10 to 15 years lead time before the Singularity…” He ran his hands through his hair, pacing frantically. 

Kaydel chimed in, “What’s blowing my mind is the fact that it’s Hux Industries, like they’re the last company I would’ve guessed could do this.” 

Poe nodded eagerly, “Right? Like how did they solve the overclocking problem.” 

“Overclocking?” Finn and Ben were lost. 

Rey ignored them and spoke only the two White Hats. “They’ve cracked supercooling at the microlevel. The intel I have on their latest gen chip is unbelievable. Superfast speeds…”

Kaydel and Poe looked impressed but then sobered. “Even with the chip, they were years away from the ability to code an AI...how--”

“Quantum computing. They’ve headhunted a lot of the best and brightest in the industry. Their build team is stupid good,” Rey answered. 

Ben felt himself getting angry, he was on the outside of this conversation and he didn’t like it. He clapped his hands for attention. “Hey, nerds.” They glared at him. “If Hux Industries has all this...stuff…why hasn’t the Evil Computer Overlord taken over the world yet?” 

Everyone paused for a beat. Rey raised her brows at Poe and Kaydel letting them figure it out. She grinned when they got it a moment later. 

“It’s in a box isn’t it?” said Kaydel. “They’ve got it in an AI box!” 

“Makes sense, that way they could ensure they still have control,” Poe agreed. 

“Look,” Finn stood up. “Let’s all take a moment here, this is all theory and speculation. We don’t know for sure they even have an AI, much less one advanced enough to--” 

“Destroy everything?” Rey said sweetly. 

Ben narrowed his eyes. “What’s your angle, Professor? If anything it seems to me like you’d be happy to have something like this loose in the world?” 

Rey took a moment and smiled. Time to bait the hook.  _ Open up Agent Solo.  _

“Look, I’m not saying I don’t have a hankering to see what Hux Industries has managed to create but I’m also not so anxious to usher in the next apocalypse either. It would be mad to let an unregulated AI loose in the world innit? All my sources pointed to a very big, very bad something being born over at Hux Industries...in fact, if you lot hadn’t nicked me, I’d probably be putting a stop to it right now.” 

“And you were purely interested in stopping the Emperor AI as a favor to the world, right?” Agent Solo sneered. 

Rey spread her hands as far as the handcuff chain allowed. “Heroes come in all sorts, Agent.” 

“Oh for fuck’s sakes--” Ben threw up his hands in frustration. “Tell me you aren’t buying this bullshit, Finn.” 

Finn merely sat looking at her, considering. He pulled Ben, Poe and Kaydel to one side. “I think we need to go to SAC Holdo on this. If what she says is true…” 

Ben snorted but Finn persisted. “We can’t take the chance. Let’s lay it out for Holdo. See what she says.” 

Poe chimed in, “Also...You’re so keen on catching terrorists. Stopping the next London bomb attack, well just imagine what we could do if we had an AI? If this information is true and Hux Industries has cracked it, we need to get in front of this as fast as we can. This is the next arms race, Agent Solo, and we need to know who’s building nukes.”

Reluctantly, Ben had to agree, even though every instinct he had as a cop was screaming at him that the Professor had more up her sleeve than she was letting on. No one like her offers up intel like that unless they had an ulterior motive. 

“Fine, we take it to SAC Holdo.” 

He glared at her; sphinxlike, she met his eyes and smiled. 


	5. Chapter 5

Rey was willing to bet they’d believed it. The worried looks on the White Hats--the only ones smart enough to really understand the implications--the fact that nefarious technology was apparently being created in their backyard, the shadow of 9-11 and London. All combined to ensure that no one wanted to risk failing to put the pieces together to prevent another disaster. 

This would all be for naught if she couldn’t be there too. 

She cleared her throat, “Go to your boss lady then, tell her what I told you. Then what? You barge in with subpoenas and guns ablazing and you’ll lose the only chance you’ll ever get to get your hands on Emperor. Hux Industries has lawyers upon lawyers. They’ll drown you with injunctions while they spirit Emperor out the back door. Never mind how it would play in the press,” Rey made finger-quotes, “Power-mad Nanny-State hinders innovation and free enterprise using the FBI” — that will definitely play well in Washington. If you want any shot at all at Emperor, you’ll need me to steal it for you.” 

“I knew it. I knew you had an angle. I just can’t believe you’re dumb enough--or greedy enough--to tell us.” Ben said. 

“I’m just stating the facts. There’s no way Hux gives over the keys to the kingdom willingly. And, there’s no one else smart enough to steal it for you.” Rey nodded at the White Hats, “Even them, clever as they are. I know you’ve compromised Kylo. But you haven’t figured out all his tricks nor mine. Time is a factor. My sources tell me they were only weeks away from revealing Emperor to the world. If you want to stop it, you need my help.” 

Kaydel and Poe had the grace to look embarrassed about the revelation they’d cracked Kylo. Agent Solo just looked furious. 

“So you go run to your bosses, Agent Solo, you tell them what I’ve told you, and tell them about my offer. See if they aren’t more sensible and willing to see reason. I’ll be waiting. After all, it's not like I’m going anywhere.” With that she lay her head down on her hands and closed her eyes. 

***

Ben swigged down the last of the terrible office coffee, barely tasting it. Frustration and well let’s admit it--the dawning realization that the girl was right, filled his brain. He crushed the paper cup and pegged it at the closest trash can. 

There was no way SAC Holdo would allow for such an unsanctioned operation. But if The Professor was right? He didn’t fully understand all the ins and outs of the AI but the grave looks and worried conjecturing from the Geek Squad was enough to convince him. Normally, those two seemed excited no matter what nefarious tech they've been presented with. This thing, this Superintelligence, had taken the wind right out of their sails. Ben didn’t know computers but he knew people. And those two were quietly shitting bricks. 

“Do you really think Holdo would allow this?” Finn was on the exact same track as him. 

“I can’t see why she would. Anyway, how are we to know if her story is legit?” Ben couldn’t resist playing Devil’s Advocate, even to himself. 

“C’mon man, she’s a liar but even she seemed scared…if only there was a way we could flip her. Get her on our side,” Finn mused. “For real. Not faking,” he finished off of Ben’s skeptical look. 

Ben scrubbed his hands over his face in annoyance. “This whole operation sucks, John. Give me criminals I can understand, not this fucking computer nerd bullshit. Real people, real guns, real crimes. That shit is easy…” 

“Different times, man...those days are long gone, I think. Welcome to the new world,” Finn indicated Poe and Kaydel, quietly conferring over Kylo. 

“So how do we position this to Holdo? Set up The Professor as a CI? Holdo’s ambitious but not stupid. She won’t take unnecessary risks when she’s already got The Professor in her grasp...that’s  _ if _ we can make her understand about the AI. I mean, I barely do.” Ben sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. 

Poe looked over at them. “Agents, what if there was a way that we might be able to ensure The Professor’s compliance?”

“I’d say, good fucking deal,” said Finn. 

“The thing is...it involves the use of some...untested tech we’ve been working on,” Kaydel hedged. She fidgeted uncomfortably. 

Poe jumped in, “Nothing too out there. It’s worked great in trials and it’s based on existing tracking technology. We’ve just kind of--juiced it up a little.” He waved away Kaydel’s frown. “It’s our best--our only--option.” 

“Explain it. Simply and clearly. We’re listening.” Ben said. 

They did. Ben felt a tiny surge of hope. They might be able to persuade SAC Holdo after all and they’d have a permanent solution to the problem of the Professor. He nodded, thinking of how best to sell Holdo on the idea. 

***

To Ben’s surprise, SAC Holdo was not only aware of the potential for a Superintelligent AI, she grasped the seriousness of it right away. 

“I’ve read some threat assessments about this circumstance; most people in the Intelligence Community feel it’s unlikely. Are you sure your intel on this is reliable?” she said. 

“Coming strictly from The Professor we’d dismiss it, but Agents Dameron and Konnix have been doing some back channel inquiries. Once they’ve gotten sources to talk about it, they’re pretty convinced...and plenty scared. Some of their informants have disappeared, preparing for the eventuality by going off grid,” Finn answered. 

“I just wish we had more lead time.” Holdo was frustrated. “We could check things out more thoroughly.” 

“So do I, but we have a plan for getting on top of this. It’s unorthodox, but if half of what we’ve learned is true we don’t have the luxury to split hairs. This is the best plan we’ve got.” 

“A bad plan can be worse than no plan,” Holdo said.

“Whoa, this isn’t a bad plan--” Finn interrupted.

“We’ve used CI’s before,” Ben pointed out.

“Thoroughly vetted criminal informants. We’ve just arrested The Professor, we know she’s exceptionally intelligent, resourceful and a huge flight risk. We have to assume that she will run the first chance she gets,” she replied. 

Finn shook his head at Ben; he had a rep for being tougher on CI’s, this would sound better coming from Finn.

“Well ma’am, we have a plan for that too. Agents Connix and Dameron have come up with something that will keep The Professor on a tight leash.” 

“Explain,” Holdo leaned forward interested.

***

“No way. No. You cannot do this, I have rights. If you let me talk to a lawyer, they’d be screaming bloody murder!” Rey felt trapped. 

“As a terrorist, you have no rights. Anyway, this is no different than having to wear an ankle monitor,” Agent Solo countered. 

SAC Holdo frowned at him and said, “If you expect us to go along with your plan we need some kind of guarantee. This is not an unreasonable request to make of any CI.” 

“Usually, you don’t have ankle monitors surgically implanted inside you though, do you?” Rey shouted. 

Poe stepped forward, hands out in a calming gesture. “It won’t require surgery, we can inject the locator chip just like any sort of subcutaneous implant. It’s relatively painless…and not permanent.” 

“I don’t fucking care! You aren’t injecting me with anything!” Rey wanted to run, to flee. The best she could do was pace the confines of her tiny cell. She glared out the bars at the Agents. 

“This is the condition, if you want to leave that cell, you’ll agree.” SAC Holdo narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “I’m not exactly sold on the idea of using you as a CI in the first place. We have other options.”

Rey suspected this was a bluff. Time was short and she doubted they’d be able to get the necessary warrants to swoop in and grab up the AI without tipping Hux Industries off. One of the risks of government contractors was that they always had someone looking out for them in most levels of any administration; greased palms made for loose lips. 

Also she needed out of this cell if she was going to be able to escape. The locator chip was a wrinkle in her plan but what plan went off without a hitch anyway? 

She stopped pacing. Realistically, she knew she had no choice; she would have to submit. Working for Plutt she’d learned many painful lessons about trying to buck the inevitable. She chalked up another mark in her imaginary ledger of all the ways she was going to make the Feebs pay for this indignity. 

“Fine. Fucking tag me like a dog then, you facists,” she snarled, already thinking of how she could disable it or failing that, spoof the signal once she’d used the FBI to help her steal the chip. 

***

Rey felt the cool swap of an alcohol wipe on the back of her neck. She was cuffed to the table in the interrogation room again. Agents Solo, Finn and Dameron were with her as well as Agent Connix, who had asked Rey to tie up her hair. Kaydel’s touch was gentle and hesitant. Rey suspected this was the first time she’d actually tagged anyone. 

Kaydel picked up the tagger, which looked like a cross between a piercing gun and a hypodermic. “Signal check?” she asked. 

Poe tapped out some commands on a laptop that was sitting on a wheeled cart. “Solid ping, good to go.”

Rey felt the chill of the metal against the left side of her neck, just beside her nape. Kaydel pulled the trigger and she felt a sharp pinching pain. 

“Ow! Fucking hell!” Rey couldn’t help flinching, making the chains of her cuffs clank against the metal of the table. 

Agent Connix winced in sympathy, “Sorry…” 

Rey wanted to rub the hurt away, but the best she could do was roll her head side to side and shrug her shoulders. The sharp pain had subsided to a steady burning. 

“Signal check?” Connix asked again.

“Hang on...it’s initializing.”

Rey’s insides twisted in alarm.  _ Initializing? What does that mean? _

“Just a sec, it’s making the dendritic connections…” Dameron tapped a few keys and a schematic of what Rey guessed was her skull and spine appeared on the screen. She could see a small red blinking dot that she assumed was the locator chip. The burning sensation in her neck became deeper and more intense.  _ What the fuck have they put in my neck?  _

“Wait! What’s going on? What do you mean by dendritic connect--” The burning quickly ramped up to a white hot agony that made her cry out. The blinking dot suddenly flashed a cheery green and the pain disappeared. 

“What the fuck was that?” Rey yelled, feeling a sudden sweat prickle all over her. 

“It’s initialized and signal is strong. We’re green across the board.” Agent Dameron seemed pleased with himself. 

No one was listening to her. In fact Agent Connix was very pointedly  _ not _ looking at her. Rey felt her panic increase. 

“Agent Solo, your turn.” Kaydel held up an alcohol swab and another tagger gun. 

_ What was going on? Why is he getting a chip too?  _ Rey had the sinking feeling that what she thought would be a simple locator tag was not what was in her neck right now.  _ Fucking white hats and their fucking toys. _

Rey took small satisfaction in seeing Agent Solo experience as much pain as she did but all too soon the tag in his neck was steadily blinking green too. 

He looked over at her and smirked and she felt her heart lurch in sick anticipation. 

_ What on earth is going on, what have these White Hats done?  _

Later, Rey could only attribute her actions to panic and a simple stir-crazy longing for freedom. 

Finn uncuffed her, both leg and hand cuffs and removed the chains. Rey rubbed her wrists and said nothing. Agent Solo wrapped a large hand around her bicep and lifted her to her feet, he escorted her into the hall. Rey was unchained and only escorted by Solo; it was like they were daring her to escape. 

She faked a trip and pivoted, driving her shoulder hard into his midsection. The breath woofed out of Solo as he doubled over and she grabbed his gun out of the holster. She flipped the gun and cracked it down on his temple. Agent Solo dropped like a stunned cow. She was already rifling through his jacket for his badge and access card as he lay groaning; she turned to sprint down the hall to the elevator banks. 

She made it about ten feet before the pain hit her; nausea and cramps flooded her midsection. She bared her teeth and staggered on. Searing pain assailed her, her head filled with fire. Her vision greyed out into a hazy blankness. She screamed and dropped to her knees, clutching for the gun with suddenly nerveless fingers. Dimly, she felt it slide from her grasp and heard it skitter across the tile floor. 

Gritting her teeth against the agonizing pain she dragged herself along, hunching broken-backed like a crushed beetle. She heard footsteps approaching. Agent Solo had recovered enough to come after her. His steps were slow and measured, he wasn’t hurrying. Not that he needed to, Rey could barely crawl. Every nerve ending she had was shrieking in white-hot torment, her body felt like it had been dipped in acid. She had no breath to scream, she merely existed in eternal suffering. 

The pain dimmed as he grew closer. Shivering with reaction she cracked an eye open as he stood over her; he held up a small remote and clicked it. The pain disappeared, snuffed out like it never existed and Rey heaved in a gasping breath, not trusting that the torment was over. 

“Here endeth the lesson, Professor…” Agent Solo’s voice was cruelly pleased. “Try to get more than ten feet from me when it’s active and that chip goes off. The Geek Squad tells me the pain  increases exponentially with distance. Get too far and I can’t imagine what would happen...the pain would be unimaginable I expect. I wouldn’t try to escape again...not if you value your sanity.” 

Rey moaned, rolled over and puked her lunch all over the tile floor. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gifted Moodboard by ksco

Later, back in the interrogation room. Agents Connix and Dameron walked Solo through the ins-and-outs of the tracking chip. Rey could only stare hatefully as they detailed just how fucked she was. 

“So the tracker automatically trips all the pain neurons if the subject exceeds the set range. It also can be controlled by us manually here.” Agent Connix said hesitantly, she hadn’t been able to look directly at Rey since Agent Solo had returned her to the interrogation room. She flushed guiltily when Rey hissed disapprovingly at the word subject. Connix ignored her and walked Agent Solo through all the functions in the control device. 

“The pain is purely a neural response. No lasting damage will be done to the sub--you.” Connix finally faced her. “As soon as we complete the operation, we’ll deactivate and remove it.” She looked pleadingly at Rey. 

“How can you know that? Has this been tested? Who would authorize such a terrible device?” Rey could only try to make Connix feel shittier than she already did as payback. 

“The technology is safe. It’s been in use in some countries already as an enhanced interrogation technique...the Russian Federation, China…France...” Agent Dameron said.

“Oh well then, if those paragons of freedom and democracy are using this, then that’s all fine then innit?” 

He must have realized how he sounded. He looked at Agent Finn for help. 

“If you hadn’t attempted escape, you never would have known,” he said in a low voice. 

“I promise you, if this fucking thing causes any permanent harm--” she seethed. 

“It won’t. Really. It’s based on next-gen VR and immersive gaming. The pain is illusory,” said Dameron “It just lights up certain neurons momentarily.” 

“It bloody well didn’t feel like an illusion you stupid git. And anyway, what’s to stop me from topping the geezer there,” she stabbed a finger at Agent Solo, “and just carting round his bleedin’ head?” 

“The tracker chip will go into overload and shut you down if it detects any loss of brain activity or heartbeat in the control chip host.” 

“Overload, huh? I imagine that’s pretty painful.” Agent Solo smirked. 

“Oh yeah!” Dameron said enthusiastically, “the one case we read about it happening, the dude’s heart gave out--” 

“That’s enough information for now, Agents. Thank you.” Finn dismissed them and they filed out. 

Agent Solo’s grin widened. Rey closed her eyes and thought of all the ways she would destroy this man as she mentally revised her list. Three new things to do now: One, get this thing out of my fucking body. Two, steal from Hux Industries  _ with _ the FBI’s help, thankyouverymuch. And Three, Kill Agent Solo, after a long and exhaustive lesson in all the ways humans could experience pain. 

***

Ben Solo couldn’t sleep. 

Part of it was nerves, he always got a bad case of them before any big operation. But mostly, it was the girl. She weighed on his mind. He tossed and turned trying to think of all the ways she could try to pull a fast one, but he knew she was as slippery as a greased weasel, and even with that chip she couldn’t be trusted. And like a weasel, he suspected her bite would be a nasty one, likely to cause infection. 

He didn’t care what Holdo wanted; he wasn’t going to risk his career if this shit went south. He’d put her down. High profile arrests still counted if the detainee was dead. Feeling a certain grim resolve, Ben decided since he was already awake he might as well go for a run. 

As he pounded along the anonymous suburban streets near his home he couldn’t stop thinking of her seemingly innocent face and the spark deep in those hazel eyes of hers. The Nerd Squad would trust in their gadgets to keep her in line; he would trust his gut. He was very familiar with that spark, he’d seen it in the eyes of a thousand criminals just like her; it was treachery and it always came out. Always. 

He felt a sudden surge of rage and adrenaline and he ran faster--sprinting down the pre-dawn streets--the houses dark and slumbering as he raced by until, exhausted, he staggered to a stop, dripping with sweat. A passing security drone paused in its rounds to run a facial recognition and identification query and as he faced the drone, allowing it to scan him, Ben thought about the raid planned for today and all the ways it could go wrong. 

***

Rey watched as the last of the dye they’d given her to use swirled down the drain. She squeezed the water out of her wet--newly brunette--hair and wrapped it in a towel as she stepped out of the shower. Naked, she sat down cross-legged on her bunk and took deep steadying breaths. The pre-dawn silence of her cell-block was filled with the whisper and hum of air conditioning and the peculiar quiet that comes only to facilities that usually buzz with daytime activity. She supposed they were watching her through cameras somewhere but she felt buried, isolated underground. She closed her eyes and meditated, imagining the sunshine, sitting on her favourite park bench in New York and feeling the late spring sunshine drench her winter-pale skin. When she felt calm and centered, she held her hands in front of her and imagined a keyboard. She began to type, fingers flashing in the air--coding nonexistent programs and subroutines as she visualized them inside her mind. A faint smile creased her lips as she continued with her act of illusory creation. 

Finally, she finished and dressed in the prison uniform they gave her and shook out her hair, frowning at the newly dark locks that fell around her face. The one in charge-SAC  _ whatshername _ ? Holdo had insisted she dye her hair as “wild and unusual colours” weren’t exactly dress code standard here, and for their plan to work she had to fit in. Rey missed the riot of colours but grudgingly admitted that this wouldn’t draw attention and likely would be easier to maintain--once she got away from here. 

_ And I will,  _ she thought _ . Almost out, just have to make it through tomorrow...well, today. _

There was no clock but she guessed it was in the depths of early morning, maybe 3 am?

_ This time tomorrow I’ll be in the wind, _ she nodded to herself. 

Agent Solo thought he was pretty clever, thought he had her number, well she was a great deal cleverer than he could suspect. She’d dealt with cops like him before; they all had the same look in their eyes, he was a devotee. Dedicated to his own twisted idea of justice no matter the cost. A Solomon who would swing the sword. 

She thought she might as well try to rest now; who knew when she might get her next chance? She lay down and curled up, shutting her eyes to the dim glow of the lights they kept on constantly. She had a lot of practice learning to doze wherever and whenever she could.

Rey Niima went to sleep. 

***

Poe nudged Kaydel awake, “Come and look at this, you ever seen anything like it?” he pointed over to a monitor. 

Kaydel rubbed the sleep from her gritty eyes--feeling tired right down to her bones as she rolled out of the spare cot the Geek Squad kept in the lab. She shuffled over and looked at the monitor, then scowled at Poe. It showed a high resolution overhead view of The Professor’s cell. She was sitting cross-legged on her bunk, naked, her arms in front of her.

She was a little unsettled by his peeping on Rey. Kaydel felt an odd sense of kinship with her--another woman in a field dominated by men--even if she played on the wrong team. 

“I know she’s a detainee, but she doesn’t need you ogling her.” She moved to shut the monitor off. 

“What? I’m not ogling--” he sounded hurt.

“She’s naked.” 

“Is she? Oh yeah, I didn’t notice. Doesn’t matter.” Poe said in a distracted way, waving away any suggestion he had been a creep. Kaydel realized he truly hadn’t been paying attention to that when he pointed at the monitor again. “Look, look at what she’s doing…” his voice was filled with wonder. 

Kaydel focused on Rey again, saw the way her fingers were moving in the air in front of her. Her curiosity was piqued. 

“What--what is she doing?” 

“She’s coding. I’d bet my badge on it!” Poe was impressed. “If only she had a keyboard...we could watch.” 

Kaydel breathed out a sigh and nodded. Like Renaissance acolytes watching an Old Master painting, Poe and Kydel silently watched Rey, the glow of the monitor washing over their faces. If SAC Holdo had been there to witness she might have been unnerved at the look of awe they both wore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading and sticking with me even though I update slowly, because, you know, Life. (hahaha*sobs*)


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